It’s been a very busy 2018 so far for Travelodge, who kicked off the new year with the opening of Skye by Travelodge Arena Nha Trang, in Vietnam. And, today the company have announced the opening of two more hotels, both in Kulala Lumpur.

The two new sites, Travelodge Central Marketis and Travelodge Bukit Bintang, are expected to open in Q3 of this year. Taking the company’s Asian portfolio up to eight locations, including two in Hong Kong, two in Thailand and one in Indonesia.

Stephen Burt, Chairman of Travelodge Hotels Asia, said: “Travelodge was an iconic brand in Malaysia in the 90s, and we are delighted to bring the brand back to Kuala Lumpur with two great hotels in such superb locations. These hotels will serve as a springboard for the growth of the Travelodge brand across Malaysia. We are working on various opportunities in other cities such as Penang, Malacca and Kota Kinabalu, across a combination of both managed and franchised hotels.”

Marcus Aw, Director of Midscale Hotel Investments Pte. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SGX-listed ICP Ltd, said: “We are delighted to follow up our maiden hotel investment in Hong Kong late last year with our second acquisition – Travelodge Central Market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“We are optimistic that the increasing investment in infrastructure projects such as the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail, and the 70-acre Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), will cement Kuala Lumpur’s status as one of the key commercial centres in Asia”.

“We have taken into account the hotel operating cycle, the lack of supply of good quality midscale hotels, and the overall risk-return profile in making this investment decision. We continue to source opportunities to acquire hotels in Kuala Lumpur and other key cities in Asia such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, Bangkok and Tokyo, and are confident that the Travelodge Asia operating platform will deliver strong returns to us as hotel owners and help our partners achieve their investment objectives and returns criteria.”

Well established in the United States, UK and across Europe and Oceania, Travelodge has a target of opening 40 sites throughout Asia, with 15 in Thailand alone; Hua Hin, Jomtien, Phuket and Samui, on the way.

But with the current total, standing 32 short of this number, I foresee a flurry of openings coming over the next few months.